A step-by-step guide to building and managing your product catalog in UniLink — the central inventory that powers every storefront, digital download, course, and membership on your page.
- Products is the central catalog in UniLink — every item you sell (physical, digital, course, membership, service) lives here and gets pulled into display blocks on your page.
- Creating a product does not automatically show it on your page — you still need to add or configure a Shop, Digital, or Course block to display it.
- Set up variants (size, color, etc.) completely before publishing — missing price or stock on even one variant combination will break that option at checkout.
- Most "product not showing" issues come from two things: the product is not linked to any block, or inventory is set to 0 (which marks it sold-out immediately).
Most platforms make you think in two separate places — there's a "store" where you upload products, and then a separate page builder where you add content. UniLink keeps them together but separates concerns sensibly: Products is your catalog, and blocks are your display layer. Get that distinction clear and everything else makes sense. Add a product once, and it can appear in multiple places on your page — in a Shop block, a Featured Product block, a Digital Downloads section — without duplicating your work. Change the price in one place and it updates everywhere.
What Products does
The Products section is the master catalog for everything you sell through UniLink. Physical goods, downloadable files, structured courses, recurring membership tiers, and bookable services all start here. When you create a product record, you're defining the source of truth: the name, description, pricing, images, inventory, and any variant combinations. Blocks on your page draw from this catalog — they don't store product data themselves.
This architecture matters in practice. If you sell a T-shirt in Small, Medium, and Large across three colorways, you define those options once in the product record. The Shop block on your page automatically inherits all nine variant combinations and tracks stock for each independently. Update the Medium Black stock count in Products and it's immediately reflected for visitors. You never touch the block to make inventory changes — the block is just the window; Products is the warehouse.
Products also handles the behavioral rules around each item type. A Physical product triggers a shipping address and fulfillment flow. A Digital product triggers automatic file delivery to the buyer's email after payment. A Course product organizes content into modules and lessons that gate by enrollment. A Membership product generates a recurring billing relationship. Each type has its own fields and checkout flow — choosing the right type at creation time is the most important decision you make for each product.
Getting started
- Open Products: In your UniLink Dashboard, navigate to Products in the left sidebar. If you have no products yet, you'll see an empty state with a Create Product button.
- Click Create Product: You'll be asked to choose a product type first — Physical, Digital, Course, Membership, or Service. Pick the right one now, because switching types later resets some type-specific fields.
- Fill in the basics: Enter the product name, write a description using the rich text editor, and upload at least one image. The first image becomes the thumbnail used in all block displays.
- Set pricing: Enter the base price. Optionally add a compare-at price (the original price shown with a strikethrough) to indicate a discount. Leave compare-at blank if there's no sale.
- Configure type-specific settings: For Physical products, add SKU, shipping weight, and dimensions. For Digital, upload the delivery file and set download limits if needed. For Course, proceed to add modules and lessons after saving the base record.
- Set up variants (if applicable): Open the Variants tab, define option groups (e.g., Size: S, M, L — Color: Red, Blue), and confirm that every combination has a price and stock count assigned.
- Save the product: Click Save. The product now exists in your catalog. It is not visible on your page yet — you need to add it to a block.
- Add to a block: Go to your page editor, open the relevant block (Shop, Digital, Course, etc.), and link the product from your catalog. Save and publish the block.
How to manage your product catalog
- Edit a product: In the Products list, click any product to open it. All fields are editable — price changes take effect immediately for new orders; existing unpaid cart sessions may cache the old price briefly.
- Update inventory: Open the product, go to Inventory, and adjust the stock count. You can also set a low-stock alert threshold — UniLink will notify you when remaining units fall below that number.
- Hide a product without deleting it: Set product visibility to Hidden. Hidden products are removed from all block displays instantly but remain in your catalog — useful for seasonal items you'll restock.
- Create a sale price: Enter the new (discounted) amount in the Price field and put the original price in Compare-at Price. Visitors will see the original price struck through next to the sale price.
- Duplicate a product: Use the Duplicate option in the product's action menu to create a copy with all fields pre-filled. Useful when creating variants of a similar item or setting up a seasonal bundle.
- Organize with categories and tags: Assign products to categories and add tags from the product detail page. Some block types let you filter which products are displayed by category or tag.
Key features and settings
| Feature / Setting | What it does | Best practice |
|---|---|---|
| Product type | Determines checkout flow — Physical routes to shipping address, Digital triggers file delivery, Course gates content, Membership starts recurring billing | Set the correct type on creation; changing it later resets type-specific fields and may affect existing orders |
| Compare-at price | Shows the original price with a strikethrough next to the current price, signaling a discount to visitors | Only use when there is a genuine previous price; misleading strikethroughs erode trust and may violate advertising rules in some regions |
| Variants | Define option groups (Size, Color, Format, etc.) — UniLink generates all combinations and tracks stock and price per combination | Assign a price and stock count to every variant combination before publishing; any combination missing a price will fail at checkout |
| Inventory tracking | Limits purchasable quantity and auto-marks the product or variant as sold-out when stock hits 0 | Enable for physical goods; leave blank (unlimited) for digital products unless you intentionally want limited access |
| Low-stock alert | Sends a notification to your account email when remaining stock falls below the threshold you set | Set to 5–10 units for products that take time to restock; set lower for print-on-demand or made-to-order items |
| Visibility | Public shows the product everywhere it's linked; Hidden removes it from all block displays instantly; Password-gated requires visitors to enter a code to view it | Use Hidden for out-of-season or out-of-stock products instead of deleting them — preserves order history and lets you reactivate quickly |
| Digital file attachment | Stores the delivery file (PDF, ZIP, MP3, etc.) in UniLink — sent automatically to the buyer's email after successful payment | Upload the final file version before publishing; if you update the file after orders exist, existing customers won't get the new version automatically |
| Categories and tags | Organizes your catalog and allows block-level filtering — some block types can display only products from a specific category | Tag products consistently from the start; retroactively tagging a large catalog is tedious and easy to miss |
How to get the most from Products
Write descriptions that answer the specific question a buyer is likely to arrive with, not a general description of what the product is. For a physical product, that means materials, dimensions, and a shipping time estimate. For a digital product, it means an exact contents list — "19-page PDF, EPUB and MOBI formats included, last updated April 2026" is more useful than "a guide to getting started." For a course, it means the learning outcome and a module breakdown. Visitors are deciding whether to buy in under 10 seconds; give them what they need to decide, not what sounds impressive.
Use the compare-at price field strategically, not perpetually. A product that always shows a strikethrough price trains visitors to wait for the "real" price and erodes trust in your pricing. Reserve it for genuine time-limited promotions — set a calendar reminder to remove the compare-at price when the sale ends. If you forget, visitors will continue to see the inflated "original" price indefinitely, which can feel dishonest and reduce conversions on future sales.
Keep variant structures as flat as possible. Every additional option layer (Size × Color × Material) multiplies the number of combinations you need to maintain. If you sell a T-shirt in 3 sizes and 4 colors, that's 12 combinations, each needing a price and stock number. Add a third option dimension and you're at 36. Most creators are better served by separate products for meaningfully different items than by a single product with a sprawling variant matrix. Ask yourself: would a buyer see these as the same product or different products? If different, make them separate records.
Review your catalog quarterly. Products accumulate: limited drops that never got hidden, course modules you rebuilt but left the old version live, digital files that have been superseded. A bloated catalog confuses both you and your visitors. Set aside 30 minutes every three months to archive sold-out items, consolidate duplicate products, and update any descriptions or prices that are out of date. Your blocks will reflect these updates immediately once you save.
Troubleshooting
| Problem | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Product not visible on page | Product exists in catalog but is not linked to any active block | Open the page editor, find the relevant block (Shop, Digital, etc.), and add the product from your catalog; save and publish the block |
| Product shows as sold out immediately after creating it | Inventory was set to 0 during setup, or a variant has 0 stock | Open the product, go to Inventory, and set the correct stock count — or disable inventory tracking if the product is unlimited |
| Variant not selectable at checkout | That variant combination has no price assigned | Open the product, go to Variants, and assign a price to every combination — even if it's the same as the base price |
| Buyer didn't receive the digital file after purchase | Product type not set to Digital, or delivery file not uploaded | Edit the product, confirm type is set to Digital, and verify a file is attached in the Digital File field; re-save; resend delivery email manually from the order detail page |
| Compare-at price not showing strikethrough on page | Compare-at price is equal to or lower than the current price | Compare-at price must be higher than the current (sale) price for the strikethrough to display; check that both fields have the correct values |
| Product images blurry or cropped poorly | Images uploaded below 800×800px or with a non-square aspect ratio | Re-upload square images at 800×800px minimum; UniLink auto-crops non-square images but results can vary — square is the safe choice |
| Low-stock alert not triggering | Alert threshold not set, or set higher than current stock at the time of creation (already below threshold) | Open the product, go to Inventory, and set a threshold number; if current stock is already below that number, update stock first then set the threshold |
Products works well when
- You sell across multiple product types (physical + digital + memberships) and want a single catalog to manage them all
- You want inventory changes to propagate instantly to every block on your page without editing each block manually
- You need digital file delivery to happen automatically after payment without setting up a separate tool
- You want to run time-limited sales using compare-at pricing without rebuilding your page layout
- You're building a catalog before your page is ready — products can exist in draft state until you're ready to publish them in a block
Products isn't the right fit when
- You have hundreds of SKUs with complex tax rules, shipping zones, or wholesale tiers — a dedicated e-commerce platform like Shopify handles those better
- Your products require age verification, legal disclaimers, or jurisdiction-specific compliance checks at checkout
- You need real-time sync with a third-party inventory system (warehouse management, POS terminal) — UniLink's catalog is not designed for external sync
- Your course content requires SCORM compliance or LMS-grade completion tracking — use a dedicated course platform and link to it instead
Frequently asked questions
Can I sell a product without adding it to a block?
No — products exist in your catalog but are only visible to visitors when linked inside a block on your page. A product in your catalog with no block connection cannot be found or purchased by anyone. Think of blocks as the shelf display; Products is the stockroom. You need both for anything to be available.
What happens to existing orders if I change a product's price?
Price changes apply to new orders only. Orders that have already been placed are locked at the price the buyer paid and are not affected by subsequent price edits. If you're running a sale and need to honor the sale price for orders placed before you update the price back, you'll need to handle those manually through the Orders tab.
Can the same product appear in multiple blocks on my page?
Yes. A product in your catalog can be linked in as many blocks as you want — a featured product spotlight at the top of your page and inside a full Shop block further down, for example. All instances pull from the same product record, so an inventory update applies to all display locations simultaneously.
How do I handle a product I no longer sell but don't want to delete?
Set the product visibility to Hidden. Hidden products are removed from all block displays immediately but stay in your catalog with their full order history intact. You can reactivate them at any time by switching visibility back to Public. Deleting a product removes it permanently and can affect order history records — Hidden is almost always the better choice.
Is there a limit to how many products I can create?
Product limits depend on your UniLink plan. Free accounts have a lower catalog limit; paid plans increase or remove the cap. Check your current plan details under Settings → Billing to see the limit for your account. If you're approaching the limit, consider archiving (hiding) products you no longer sell before upgrading.
- Products is the central catalog — physical goods, digital files, courses, memberships, and services all start here and are displayed via blocks on your page.
- Creating a product does not put it on your page; you must link it inside a block (Shop, Digital, Course, etc.) for visitors to see and buy it.
- Set inventory to the correct stock count from the start — a value of 0 marks the product sold-out immediately, even on the first day it's live.
- Every variant combination needs a price assigned; missing prices on any combination will cause checkout to fail for that option.
- Use Hidden visibility (not delete) for products you no longer sell — it preserves order history and lets you reactivate instantly.
Ready to build your catalog? Create your free UniLink page and add your first product today.